Using HCG with exogenous testosterone - testicles never really shut down?

Curious about this.

If your using HCG with exogenous testosterone Are you not stacking your own testosterone with the external source? Thus not really shutting down your own production because of the HCG? So if you ever stop the exogenous testosterone and then eventually stop the HCG won't your normal production continue once (if the HCG di not shut it down for good) pituitary starts producing LH again?

Exogenous testosterone and HCG both will cause hormonal axis to shut down. HCG will help keep your testes healthy, but it will not cause your pituitary to start producing LH again. You need to jump start it. Look up PCT or Post Cycle Therapy. This is where you use medicine like clomid or tamoxifen (sp?) to tell your pituitary to produce LH.

Yes, I understand that...on HCG mono I watched my LH almost drop to 0..almost. But with HCG present with TRT the testicles continue to produce testosterone thus stacking on top the external source right?

Yes, but the increased testosterone is in small quantities. If you use a lot of HCG and the testes produce a lot of testosterone, you run the risk of that testosterone aromatizing within the testes to estradiol. That estradiol is harder to manage than what you see running exogenous testosterone alone.

So, basically, too much HCG on top of exogenous testosterone could result in high e2 that is difficult to manage.

Before trying higher dosages of HCG when I was doing 500 E3D I was in the low to mid 300s T. With 400iu ED I was only slightly higher in the mid 300s.

So I would expect to maintain around low 300s with 500iu E3D and the external T on top of that.

My main question/point was if one comes off of all the stuff at some point, once HCG is removed, there is a chance that the pituitary will wake back up and start producing LH again. At this point being on HCG for the past 6 months my LH is off. Now adding T to the mix that won't do anything to my body that already has been done by the HCG.

My understanding is that HCG will maintain your testicular health, but it will do nothing to communicate with your pituitary and tell it to start releasing LH. That is where clomid or tamoxifen come into play.

If you quit both T and HCG, your body would stop producing testosterone, and you would go through a period of feeling like crap before your pituitary HOPEFULLY begins producing LH and your hormonal axis starts again. No guarantees.

Correct. HCG does shut off LH production since the testicles are not sending the signal out to tell the pituitary to make more LH.

CSI007 said:

Curious about this.

If your using HCG with exogenous testosterone Are you not stacking your own testosterone with the external source? Thus not really shutting down your own production because of the HCG? So if you ever stop the exogenous testosterone and then eventually stop the HCG won't your normal production continue once (if the HCG di not shut it down for good) pituitary starts producing LH again?

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I think you're correct, the HCG keeps the testes viable, the shutdown part is the pituitary and it's LH which can be restarted. As you note the problematic portion of a HPTA shutdown is NOT using HCG and the testes becoming dormant, shrunken, or no longer viable as time went on. I think it's up for discussion though how much ITT is produced, if any, by use of HCG and exo Test.

CSI007 said:

Correct. HCG does shut off LH production since the testicles are not sending the signal out to tell the pituitary to make more LH.

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The testes are not in comm with the pituitary telling it to do anything. The feedback loop only works to know the body has no T...exo or endo at which time the pituitary should start producing LH again, signaling the testes.

CSI007 said:

Curious about this.

If your using HCG with exogenous testosterone Are you not stacking your own testosterone with the external source? Thus not really shutting down your own production because of the HCG? So if you ever stop the exogenous testosterone and then eventually stop the HCG won't your normal production continue once (if the HCG di not shut it down for good) pituitary starts producing LH again?

Click to expand...

Yes you are right. Most will revert to pre trt values including LH BUT you never know until that happens. Clomid will stimulate lh and then you hope that LH is ok when you stop that.

CSI007

Just want this video and let me know if it is not clear.

https://www.excelmale.com/content.p...t-for-Men-on-Testosterone-Replacement-Therapy

Nelson Vergel said:

CSI007

Just want this video and let me know if it is not clear.

https://www.excelmale.com/content.p...t-for-Men-on-Testosterone-Replacement-Therapy

Click to expand...

Thank you!